Santa Cruz alternative high school students build pies from earth up

It's a group effort in the Natural Bridges High School kitchen Thursday, as students Bremman Mora, Danny Cuddihy and Lilly Sands mix up batches of pumpkin pie as New Leaf Community Markets nutritionist Madia Jamgochian, far left, and the school's sustainable agriculture teacher April Jernberg, far right, lend a hand. (Shmuel Thaler -- Santa Cruz Sentinel)

2. Add all ingredients to a food processor or blender and mix until smooth. If you do not have either appliance, use a bowl, a whisk. Whisk until smooth.

3. Pour into a ready-made pie shell.

4. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350, and bake for an additional 35-40 minutes, or until filling is set.

5. Filling should look firm, but will jiggle slightly when you move the pan.

6. Cool pie and serve with homemade whipped cream.

* To prepare the pumpkin puree, preheat oven to 350. Cut a sugar pie pumpkin, or kabocha squash in half, scrape out seeds and place flat side down on a cookie sheet. Bake until soft (check with fork), approximately 30 minutes.

Source: New Leaf Community Markets.

SANTA CRUZ >> Baking a pie, let alone one they and their classmates helped grow the pumpkins for, was something of a new experience for April Jernberg’s sustainable agriculture class at Natural Bridges High School.

Thursday afternoon, chilled dough and a heavy plastic bag of three varieties of pureed pumpkin made earlier this week awaited students’ return from UC Santa Cruz for the annual FoodWhat Harvest Festival. Former Soquel High School juniors Dexten Johnson and Quinn Dudley, both 16, were the first to arrive and begin rolling out their dough on flour-sprinkled cutting boards. Making homemade whipped cream would be left for the next class.

The alternative education school and its Regional Occupational Program focus, combined with an average class size of about 12 students, meshes well with the sustainable agriculture class, said Jernberg.

Students grow enough from their quarter-acre campus garden and an indoor hydroponic table to create meals from scratch about once a month. However, the variances of weather and inconsistent student participation mean sometimes the class needs a helping hand to round out its supply list.

“I think in the past, the idea was to grow all the food for the program, so we’re trying to get back to that,” said Jernberg, who splits her time teaching between Natural Bridges and Renaissance High School in Watsonville. “It’s hard, because minimal work output, even though there’s a lot of hands. Also, there’s weather. Ag is so experimental. One weekend it rained and we lost all our broccoli right before the harvest.”

A new partnership between the school and New Leaf Community Markets has brought community education coordinator Madia Jamgochian to classes this year with some extra food supplies. Typically, Jamgochian hosts educational programming at the Westside grocery store. With Natural Bridges High School’s just hour-long classes, she makes the short trip over to the school’s kitchen classroom to assist. Earlier this year, Jamgochian took part in a lesson on cooking spaghetti sauce from fresh grown tomatoes and basil, supplying only the entre’s pasta.

“We’re trying to keep it seasonal, so the kids can go home and bake a pumpkin pie for their families,” Jamgochian said. “It’s convenient because we’re neighbors. We just like to give back to the community and get connected to the younger kids.”

Quinn, of Capitola, said he has benefited from the hands-on style of learning at Natural Bridges High School. While struggling to roll and stretch the pie dough to the size of a large pie dish, Quinn said this was the first pie he had made.

“The staff, they’re more like parents rather than like teachers,” Quinn said of his perspective of what works well. “You feel bad when you do something wrong, whereas as other schools, it’s like, ‘I don’t care.’ It’s like, ‘They’re wrong, I’m right.’”

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“You can’t really get away with much here,” said Dexten, of Aromas, chiming in before sprinkling oil onto a pan of pumpkin seeds for baking.

Dexten, who came to Natural Bridges after earning straight F grades as a freshman, said the school is “way better” with its smaller scale than a traditional high school.

“I like that they try harder with individuals more than regular high schools, which are just a herd of sheep,” Dexten said. “That’s just my opinion.”

Dexten said he hopes to go into a career involving working with computer hardware after he graduates, and expects to take classes at Cabrillo Community College to prepare. He already has learned some of the basics of job hunting skills from his teachers, Quinn said.

Students’ classes in the Green Career Program range from agriculture to food literacy during English class. Weekly, part of Thursdays are set aside for creating poetry and Fridays for volunteer work, Quinn said.

2. Add all ingredients to a food processor or blender and mix until smooth. If you do not have either appliance, use a bowl, a whisk. Whisk until smooth.

3. Pour into a ready-made pie shell.

4. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350, and bake for an additional 35-40 minutes, or until filling is set.

5. Filling should look firm, but will jiggle slightly when you move the pan.

6. Cool pie and serve with homemade whipped cream.

* To prepare the pumpkin puree, preheat oven to 350. Cut a sugar pie pumpkin, or kabocha squash in half, scrape out seeds and place flat side down on a cookie sheet. Bake until soft (check with fork), approximately 30 minutes.

About the Author

Jessica A. York covers Santa Cruz city hall, Santa Cruz City Schools, Soquel Creek Water District and homeless issues for the Sentinel. She has been a working journalist, on both coasts, since 2004. Reach the author at jyork@santacruzsentinel.com
or follow Jessica A. on Twitter: @reporterjess.